Villagers blame voter polarisation, leaders’ overconfidence for Cong defeat

A pensive atmosphere prevails in the villages of Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, the Assembly segment of two-time Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, over the unexpected defeat of the Congress in the Vidhan Sabha elections.

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A cursory glance may indicate that it’s business as usual at the villages, but the residents cannot hide their disappointment even in casual chats.

The drubbing suffered by the Congress in the Assembly elections this time is the hot topic of discussion at the village chaupals amid puffs of hookah and rounds of card games.

“We voted for the Congress in the elections and expected Hooda to become the Chief Minister. The poll results were shocking for us,” says Darshan, a resident of Bohar village in the constituency.

He concedes that the polarisation of Jat and non-Jat voters, apart from infighting in the party, especially the episode involving senior Congress leader and former Union minister Kumari Selja, were the major factors that led to the party’s rout in the Assembly elections.

“Ignoring ground reports from party workers and fielding sitting MLAs also proved to be wrong decisions which led to a number of Congress candidates losing their seats,” points out Sukhbir Singh, another villager.

Ram Kumar, a resident of the same village, said the overconfidence of the Congress leaders and lack of party organisation at the grassroots level also contributed to the defeat.

“While the BJP leadership planned their poll strategy and assigned specific responsibilities to booth-level workers, it seemed as if the residents were contesting the election on behalf of the Congress,” observe village residents including Ajit Singh, Satbir, Phool Kuwar, Manjit, Hansraj and Dilbagh.

“It seems that the Congress was just about to savour the jalebi of power, but it missed the chance,” quips Darshan.,

Raj Singh Hooda, a resident of Sanghi, the native village of the former Chief Minister, attributes the defeat suffered by the Congress to the alleged hacking of EVMs.

Nonetheless, some residents feel that the reasons behind the Congress defeat are incomprehensible.

“We are unable to understand the factors that led to the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections as all circumstances and public opinion were in favour of the Congress. We don’t even know whether to put the blame on the EVMs, allotment of tickets, infighting or any other factor,” state Anil and Hitesh of Sanghi village.